File photo: Cherry trees blossom at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Park on Tuesday April 7, 2015 in Washington, D.C.
Nothing says springtime in Washington like the words "peak bloom," right?
On those days, 70 percent of the cherry trees that line the Tidal Basin will have burst into bloom. You can see their cheery pink colors bouncing in the wind and reflected in the water, watched over by the Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. memorials. About 3,800 of the bright-blooming trees grow here, as well as around the Washington Monument and in a few other spots along the Mall.
The cherry trees are beginning to bud because of the warmer spring weather, so the National Park Service predicts that this year's peak bloom will occur Wednesday and Thursday, which is a little earlier than usual.
Many of the trees will be in bloom for the next two weeks, if you can't make it to the Tidal Basin on the peak days. The National Cherry Blossom Festival also will hold events through April 17, including a parade, a kite festival on the Mall and fireworks along Washington's Southwest Waterfront that may be almost as colorful as the cherry trees themselves.
Be prepared for crowds if you do go to the Tidal Basin on peak-bloom days. If you want to avoid the masses, consider exploring nearby East Potomac Park, which juts into the Potomac River and gives you a great view of planes flying in and out of Reagan National Airport - not to mention the sight of a few additional groves of cherry trees.
Be sure to study up on cherry blossom history before you go, too. Get all five of these quiz questions correct, and you must be cherry smart!
1. The cherry trees were given to Washington in 1912 as a gift from what country?
A. Canada
B. Japan
C. Italy
D. China
2. True or false: The first 2,000 cherry trees that arrived in Washington were sick and infested with bugs. President William Howard Taft ordered them to be burned.
A. True
B. False
3. This year's peak bloom, expected to start on March 23, is pretty early in the year. When was the earliest peak bloom - or will this be the earliest bloom ever?
A. March 1
B. March 20
C. March 15
D. March 23
4. Many kinds of cherry trees grow around the Tidal Basin, and some of them have funny names. Which of these is made up?
A. Weeping cherry
B. Afterglow cherry
C. Kwanzan cherry
D. Sunshine cherry
5. True or false: The Tidal Basin was once used for swimming and even had a beach.
A. True
B. False
Answers: (1) B, (2) A, (3) C, (4) D, (5) A
© 2016 The Washington Post
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